And the winner is... Fears' Confections!!

I was a lucky winner this week for a facebook giveaway from a new bakery called Fears' Confections.  I guess they've had a mail order/Internet presence for a while and this week open their brick and mortar shop on E. 185th St in Cleveland.

I'm sure they weren't expecting a blog post about the prize brownies, and most certainly didn't expect an ex-baker to be the one critiquing them.  You see, I am Jennifer of "Sweet Artistry by Jennifer" fame.  About 8 years ago I was the go-to home baker for wedding cakes in Cleveland and baked everything from scratch.

My prize arrived this afternoon in an inconspicuous box.  Inside was a nicely packaged bakery box with red and black ribbons adorning it and the sticker label "Fears' Confections: sweets to die for".  My kids were excited about the free brownies but a little leery about the name of the bakery, and even more worried when they saw the catch phrase on the label.  I guess what some people find clever, others find a little creepy.

After dinner, we opened the bakery box, and I cut each of our three prize brownies into four chunks for us each to sample.  The three flavors we received were:

1. Lavender Blondie with citrus glaze
2. Afterburner
3. Dark Orange

My review-
1. Lavender Blondie- a very mild flavor, a bit too mild for my taste buds.  I like my blondies to have a little more buttery toffee or caramel flavor.  This one tastes a little more like shortbread.  The citrus glaze was very nice, and added a little more complexity to the flavor.  What I didn't taste was the lavender.
2. Afterburner- Tabasco and chocolate: a very bold and daring flavor for any bakery to attempt.  Although I'm not a big tabasco person, I gave it a try, and was pleasantly surprised.  Other than a bit heavy-handedness with the liquid smoke, I found them reminiscent of Mexican Hot Chocolate with a much stronger cinnamon flavor than usual.
3. Dark Orange- I've always been a fan of the combination of chocolate and orange, especially dark chocolate.  This brownie did not disappoint.  It was the thickest of our three samples, and was very dark in color and fudgy in the middle.  It was topped with orange zest, which I might have even tried a little zest on top after baking for an even prettier garnish.  There was a perfect balance of orange and dark chocolate making this one my favorite of our three prize brownies.

All in all, a tasty trio of treats.  Thanks, Cassandra and Jeremy Fear, and good luck with the new shop!